From The LNR Book of Knowledge

The following is an in-depth look at the process of space Reverse Engineering.

Contents 1 Equipment Requirements 1.1 Tools 1.2 Resources 2 Preparatory Work 2.1 Equipment Analysis 2.2 Component Anomalies 3 Complications 4 Standard Operating Procedures 5 Post-Production

Equipment Requirements

Tools

Reverse Engineering uses a Shipwright-specific tool, known as a Component Analysis Tool (CAT for short). Using perfect resources and 10 points of Experimentation, a Master Shipwright can make a CAT with upwards of 15 charges; using resources with 200 to all stats, my Master Shipwright made a schematic for CATs with 8 charges, and I mass-produced several crates of those. Each individual RE job will consume one charge of your CAT, and the tool will destroy itself when it runs out of charges. They can be factory-produced and come in crates of 25.

Resources

Now that you have your CAT, you'll need a subject for RE. Reverse Engineering can only be done upon raw loot ship components - no crafted ship components or already-RE'd components. You can tell if a component has been crafted by checking for a "Item Creator" tag in its Examine window; similarly, you can tell if a component has already been RE'd one of two ways - either by checking for a "Variant of" tag in the Examine window, or by checking whether or not the component has a "Reverse Engineering Level" in the Examine window.

Before you consider REing a component, check that component's Reverse Engineering Level in its Examine window. This number indicates the number of components with the same RE level that you'll need to create a finished product; in addition, all of these components need to be of the same type - you can't RE an engine with a batch of capacitors, for example.

• Example: You have a capacitor with "Reverse Engineering Level: 6" - this means that you need 6 capacitors, all of them with "Reverse Engineering Level: 6", to create one RE'd capacitor. For a component with "Reverse Engineering Level: 1", you only need that component to RE, because it only requires one component to produce an RE'd product.

Preparatory Work

So, by now you have your CAT and an idea of what's needed for an RE project - but what constitutes a good RE? Before anything else, I suggest you head to [1] and check out their Loot Analyzer. This handy little chart will give you the best and worst stats for all submitted components of a specific type and level, as well as a listing of numbers in the top 80-99%. Before you RE, check SpaceTribe - always. It's a great guideline for RE work, provided that you don't take the numbers too seriously. Give yourself some flex, and you'll do fine.

Equipment Analysis

Now, say that you have a component with a high rating in one aspect, but low ratings in every other aspect, and another component with a high rating in a different aspect. The wonderful part about Reverse Engineering is it takes the best stats from all of the supplied components and improves on those stats. This means that the two components above would both contribute their high ratings, and the RE process would ignore any stats below those. Important Note: Components do not need to have the same name to be RE'd. They do, however, need to be of the same type and RE level.

Since this is the case for all RE jobs, you want to be using the highest-rated stats you have available to you - but always remember to combine similar ratings and keep truly exceptional stats for RE projects made from nothing but exceptional stats.

• Example: You have 6 RE level 6 capacitors. One of these capacitors has a recharge rating that scores a 95% on SpaceTribe, but the rest of your equipment only scores in the 80s. In that case, rather than waste the high recharge, use a different capacitor with a lower recharge. This will save you from post-RE cries of "What was I thinking?", and ensure that you can use your best stats for your best RE projects.

My Process: When starting an RE project, I take one component of the type that I want to RE and use it as a base. Let's use the capacitor from the example above: I'd take a look at the capacitors I have available and examine each stat individually to find the best of each stat. Then, I'd set those aside and see how they compare to SpaceTribe's listings, then take out any stats that are too high for the overall rating of the project and substitute something more fitting.

Component Anomalies

One of the most common threads in the Shipwright forum concerns components with unusual combinations of RE level and Certification Level ("cert level" or "cert", for short). To distinguish these two terms: Certification Level denotes the advancement in the Pilot profession that you have to have to use the component; Reverse Engineering Level determines the stats of the component. It's possible for these two numbers to vary on some components - the important thing to remember is that this variance is not random. For example, if a component named "XYZ" has a Certification Level of 4 and a RE level of 6, all looted components with the name "XYZ" will have a cert 4 and a RE level 6.

• Why This is Important: The first component that you put into the CAT determines two things: the cert level of the RE'd component and the default name of the RE'd component. Putting the cert 4, RE 6 example from above into the CAT first would create an RE'd component with a cert level of 4, but with the stats of a cert 6 component of that type. Similarly, putting a cert 10, RE 5 component into the CAT first would create a component with a cert level of 10, but with the stats of a cert 5 component. It's rare that you'll want to put a ship part into the CAT that has a higher cert level than its RE level, simply because it means that you'll be creating a component with stats that are (usually) inferior for its level.

Complications

Remember that little note I made about the first component going into the CAT determining the finished product's name and cert level? There's more to it than just that; the first component going into the CAT also affects the appearance of the finished product. What this means is, when considering engines and ship weapons, there are multiple different appearances for components. Engines have two possible textures, weapons have multiple. For more information, please see Paladon's guide to looted starship firing and appearance graphics, here: [2]

Standard Operating Procedures

The process of RE is really a very simple one; the prep work is the hard part. You can load items into the CAT one of two ways: either by drag-and-dropping them into the CAT, or by opening the CAT in a new window and dragging the components into that window. In either case, make sure that the first component you put in is of the cert level and default name that you want for your finished component.

When you've loaded the CAT with the required number of components and you're ready to create a finished product, bring up the CAT's radial menu and select "Analyze Component." This will activate the RE process that takes the best stat of each type from the available stats and improve it. The amount that REing improves the component depends on the RE level of the component:

• RE level 1 - 1% bonus
• RE level 2/3 - 2% bonus
• RE level 4/5 - 3% bonus
• RE level 6/7 - 4% bonus
• RE level 8/9 - 5% bonus
• RE level 10 - 6% bonus

Post-Production

Once you hit the "Analyze Component" option on the CAT, a window will appear that lists the best stat and how much the stat has been improved. Once you hit OK on that screen, another screen will appear that asks you to give your new item a name (leaving this field blank will give the new component the default name - determined by the first component that you put into the CAT). There's a name filter in place on this field, so some names might be rejected - experiment and find something that works for you.

• Possible Bonus: In addition to creating an improved component, there's a small chance (1/200 or so) with each RE that you'll find an item called a "Kuat Systems Engineering Schematic Fragment." There are 8 of these fragments, each labeled with a number (1/8, 2/8, 3/8, and so on). By collecting all eight fragments and placing them in the CAT, you'll get a limited-use schematic for crafting a ship chassis - a Kuat Systems Engineering Firespray (the ship made popular by bounty hunters Jango and Boba Fett - the Slave I). This ship is certified only to Master Pilots of all factions and has a mass of approximately 210,000 when made properly. There's a high demand for Firesprays; on some servers these ships sell for millions of credits, and the schematic fragments can be valuable as well. Check your server's Galaxy Trade forum or in-game Vendor Search for more information.